U.S. Naval Air Station, Refrigeration Plant, Center Avenue, Pensacola, Escambia County, FL

Significance: Constructed in 1917 as the Refrigeration Plant to its companion Mess Hall (Building No. 108), Building No. 107 played a role supporting health and sanitation for personnel during World War I at the rapidly expanding Naval Aeronautical Station Pensacola. As part of a compound that included a bakery, as well as vegetable and garbage houses, Building No. 107 was most likely designed by the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks (BuDocks), and constructed to Navy specifications by a local builder. Although many World War I buildings at Pensacola were of temporary wood construction, Building No. 107 is masonry, probably because thicker walls provided improved insulation for the meat and other food products that needed cold storage. The small, side-gabled, brick-clad building features no architectural ornamentation. The Refrigeration Plant served in its original capacity until the late 1940s. Modifications included a 23'-0" long extension to the south end of the building in 1926, and in 1934, an exterior concrete loading platform replaced the earlier wood platform. In 1938, a 20'-0" x 32'-0" addition appended the north end of the building. By 1949, a fire pump and turbine were added to the building to support its retrofit as a power plant workshop. However, this function was short-lived. By 1960, the building contained an extruder and a rubber press manufacturing plant for making and repairing rubber and plastic parts for aircraft and other machinery. The facility sustained periodic modifications to its doors and windows in the following years. As late as 1995, the building continued in use as the Non-Metal Fabrication facility. Despite several minor modifications to its exterior, Building No. 107 remains compatible in scale, form, and materials to its original design. Building No. 107 is located in the southeastern section of NAS Pensacola, within the boundaries of the Pensacola Naval Air Station Historic District, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The National Park Service designated this district as a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1976. Neither nomination clearly defines the district's period of significance, although Building No. 107 is identified as an historic resource within the district.
Survey number: HABS FL-492
Building/structure dates: 1917 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 76000595